Longtime priest at St. James at Sag Bridge Church

December 06, 2007|By Trevor Jensen, Tribune staff reporter

Retired from the Navy after 28 years, Rev. Edwin Bohula accepted a temporary assignment at historic St. James at Sag Bridge Church in 1993.

Parishioners quickly took to the plain-spoken South Sider and Navy veteran, who gave fresh energy to renovation efforts at the 154-year-old church in Lemont. At their request, his posting was made permanent.

Father Bohula, 77, died Sunday, Dec. 2, at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, said his sister, Pauline. She said he had suffered from a variety of ailments for several years.

St. James at Sag Bridge's regular priest had been injured a car crash at the time Rev. Bohula was asked to fill in, said Willow Springs Mayor Alan Nowaczyk, a parishioner.

The tiny church atop a bluff near Archer Avenue and Illinois Highway 83, built in 1853 with limestone mined from nearby quarries, had seen better days. A tornado ripped its roof off in 1991, the century-old stained glass windows and wooden pews were in need of refurbishing, and vandals regularly targeted the adjacent graveyard for pranks.

A non-profit group, the St. James Preservation Society, had been created to get the work done, but the effort had yet to gain steam. Father Bohula immediately "brought new life to that parish," Nowaczyk said.

"He really picked up the ball on this thing," said Mike Foran, former president of the preservation society. "He was like, 'Let's do it, quit talking about it and let's get this done.'"

Apart from the restoration project, Father Bohula coordinated much-needed maintenance repairs, such as a new heating and air conditioning system, Nowaczyk said. Membership grew to more than 600 families and the weekly collection plate overflowed, allowing repair projects to go forward.

The renovations were completed in 1997, and at a service that November Father Bohula told the congregation that, "This church would not become a chapel in a cemetery just used for funerals."

"It's not a place of decay," he said, according to a Tribune article. "It's a living place."

Father Bohula retired about four years ago.

Father Bohula grew up in St. Salomea parish on the Far South Side. He looked up to a priest named Anthony Dudek and wanted to be a priest from the time he was a young boy, his sister said. Following seminary studies he was ordained and assigned to Immaculate Conception Church in the South Chicago neighborhood and St. Fidelis Church in the Humboldt Park neighborhood before joining the Navy in 1964.

A chaplain with the Navy and Marines, Father Bohula achieved the rank of captain and did three tours during the Vietnam War.

Father Bohula also is survived by a brother, Joseph.

Visitation will be from 2 to 7p.m. Thursday in Our Lady Mother of the Church, 116 Hilton St., Willow Springs. A mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Friday in the church.